Movie Trailer - 'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'

Here's the scorecard on the Mummy movies. Let's see if you think it works out roughly the same way: The first one, released a decade ago, was good, mindless fun. It's tailor made to be a movie you don't switch off when it pops up on the USA Network some Sunday afternoon. It's not cinematic gold or anything, but it's a decent escape. The sequel is a catastrophe. Terrible effects, a bloated storyline, the Scorpion King looks unfinished in the fight, there's only so much Brendan Fraser your soul can take, and it is - in every demeaning facet of the word - a sequel. Even though it made a significant chunk of change (it was the sixth highest grossing film of 2001), I believe a lot of people felt we had dodged a bullet for a good half-decade with no completion of the trilogy in sight. And then it happened. And knowing how bad the second movie was and knowing how bad the title for the third movie is, it's impossible to get really excited about The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Seriously, the Dragon Emperor? I know this series is pasty rip-off of Indiana Jones, but do you have to try so hard to come up with an even sillier title than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Having said all that, the trailer is OK. It looks better than the second flick, they made a more-or-less lateral jump from the non-returning Rachel Weisz to Maria Bello, the addition of Jet Li might work out, and there are massive undead armies.

The Mummy returns - again - on August 1st.